


I See Fire

by Blue_Night_Blossom



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Air Nomad Genocide, Angst, Two-Shot, if you don't like it dont read it!, it's pure angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:49:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28636545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Night_Blossom/pseuds/Blue_Night_Blossom
Summary: Air Nomad Genocide as felt by Monk Gyatso.
Kudos: 14





	1. And if we should die tonight, then we should all die together

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my main language and I haven't re-read it (although I might do it in the future), so I'm sorry for any spelling errors I make.  
> The title is inspired in Edd Sheeran's song but this is not a songfic.

The Southern Air Temple looked peaceful at night. No children running around at such late hour, bison gently flying towards their resting places, the lemurs chasing each other while going to their burrows, the older monks meditating…

In a window, a monk was watching the procedure as if in a trace. He watched slowly and surely as everyone continued their path as normal, but his path would never return to normal.

Monk Gyatso looked through the window of his ward’s room, wondering if he would ever see him again. He was furious with the other monks who had wanted to separate them, his anger appearing. He breathed in and out, letting go of his rage. It had been a month and there were no signs of Aang and everyone was worried about him. He had contacted Bumi and Kuzon but they hadn’t heard from him either.

Monk Gyatso looked at the night sky, wondering if Aang was safe or if the dreadful storm that had appeared the same day he had escaped had gotten to him. He had to remind himself several times that the Avatar dying would form a shockwave impossible to miss, like with Roku. Gyatso lowered his head thinking of his old friend, because he still prayed to the Spirits for his soul. Considering his soul was in his pupil and they were friends, he just hoped that he was safe. Monk Gyatso did not sit at the Air Temple hoping that Aang would appear by some kind of miracle, but kept entering the Sprit World to search for any sign of him, but nothing. 

The old monk jumped from the window and landed next to Bhuti, his flying bison. He forgot everyone and everything, the only motion that was consciously doing was petting his friend. He smiled at him, knowing he missed Appa and Aang too.

He wanted to go and search for both of them, but all the Air Nomads could feel danger in the air and thus were summoned to the air temples. He _could_ technically disobey, but he felt that he would be needed. The Spirits told him that he needed to stay, and stay he did.

He smiled at the sky, aware that Bhuti was falling asleep. In a couple of days, the Comet would arrive; it meant a big celebration for the firebenders and a great surge of spiritual power because of the beliefs, so maybe he would be able to locate Aang and help him wherever he was, but first he had one thing to do.

He spent the days leading to the Comet meditating in his room, trying to accept his feelings of failure linked to not being able to stop Aang from leaving. He finally accepted his emotions and he smiled to himself, for he was just in time to reach the tallest point of the temple to see the Comet. He stole a fruit tart smiling as children played, today being the only day they were allowed to stay awake so late. He smiled at his friends while eating his favourite fruit tart and relaxed completely in his favourite part of the temple.

The top was always peaceful, where no one bothered him and he could relax. He had wanted to show Aang this spot so that he could see the Comet himself, but it seemed that he spirits had other plans.

Time passed and Monk Gyatso felt the spirituality levels rise and smiled. He was the most connected to the Spirit World, being a Spiritual Master himself, so he let the feeling surround him and he was at peace.

Then the firebenders arrived mounted on dragons.

Monk Gyatso felt something in the air, a warning. The air was carrying anger, pain, confusion, destruction and death. Most monks wouldn’t know where to start, but Gyatso had practise and he paled when he understood the implications of the warning. He saw the Comet in the sky and when he looked down saw the Southern Air Temple ablaze. 

He saw monks running around, helping children mount on flying bison, some others defending them from the firebenders, but the Comet made it impossible and ended up in ashes. Gyatso saw his own bison die in the hands of a dragon sheltering a few children, and that shook him out of his shock. He jumped, sucked the air of the dragon’s lungs and proceeded to make several tornadoes that disoriented the firebenders. Thanks to that, several bison with children on board managed to escape. He needed to buy the survivors time, and suddenly he was glad that Aang was not there to see the massacre or be a victim of it.

He remembered the day Aang had told him he wanted to learn Air Nomad history, and a tear rolled down Monk Gyatso’s cheek. Aang would never learn their history, he would never even see them. Gyatso knew that the attack was not random and that the other temples were attacked too.

For one moment, he was transported to the day of Yangchen’s Festival, when Aang had wanted to listen to an old monk for stories. _You’ll have plenty of time to learn the intricacies of air nomad history when you’re older, Aang._

He smiled sadly to himself and started fighting on a small scale, blowing several groups off the mountain, but it was not enough, the firebenders were powerful and didn’t hesitate, not even with children. He was about to be sick, but he was defending several sky bison with children and he couldn’t fail. He deemed it safe for the bison and let out a blast of air with all his anger, desperation and worry behind it. Normally that technique was for children to let go of their emotions, but Gyatso was an Air Master and his delivery was flawless, so the blasts of air hit most firebenders while simultaneously putting down flames.

Abruptly, the old monk realised that he was the only airbender left in the temple, he could feel it, and considering the amount of orange robes of the bodies he very well could be the last Air Master left in the whole world. The thought made him cold inside, but if the firebenders chased the survivors they would die. That was clear, because the firebenders let out immense blasts of fire that the bison had a hard time dodging.

He knew what he had to do, but he needed to be left alone, something not likely considering his current company, so he ran towards the closest house and closed the door. He knew he only had moments. He had practised this technique hundreds of times in his lifetime, being friends with Roku meant that you had to have a way to put out any sudden fires, so he had invented the air vacuum. The air would be sucked out of the place he wanted, and when it was lifted it would crash down. In small scale he knew that he could survive, but if he wanted the firebenders to die (and subsequently put out the fires that ran rampant inside the temple) he needed to do it at a massive scale. And if his death was needed then so be it.

He sat down and centred himself just as the door turned to ashes and dozens of firebenders entered the tiny room. It was now or never, so the Monk breathed in for the last time and when he breathed out the air of the Southern Air Temple was sucked out. Only silence remained.


	2. I hope that you remember me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't re-read this chapter, so I'm sorry if there are any mistakes, but here is 1:30 am and this plot bunny wouldn't let me in peace.

Monk Gyatso opened his eyes and found himself in the Spirit World. That in itself wasn’t rare, because he knew that some souls ended up there upon their death. He tried to discern where he was, and to his dismay there was nothing familiar in his location.

There were a lot of trees and a little clearing with a small lake. He sat down in a rock next to the river and closed his eyes, trying to come to terms with his death and the killing of his people. He was about to start meditating when Bhuti appeared. Gyatso barrelled his friend, not caring about anything else in there.

He cried with him, thinking about how he should have done something, anything to save him, how he killed that dragon so that it couldn’t do more harm, how he had…

He broke down, trying to grasp himself. It shouldn’t be too difficult, he was a Spiritual Master, meaning that while the waterbenders healed the body he healed the mind. He needed to face head on what happened to him and to his people, and he might never fully recover. Monk Gyatso sighed, knowing that it was going to be a long process.

He felt powerful presences and waited, because spirits were normally nice to him. He wanted to see one because they told him clearly to stay, so the genocide was inevitable.

Five spirits entered the clearing and Bhuti ran to hide from the fire one. Gyatso understood his friend’s fear, but he was rooted in place, something unheard from an air nomad, even rarer from him, because with Aang (his main tether with the world) gone he was starting to drift with the wind.

“Lady Tui, Lord La, Lady Tselha, Lord Rahin, Lord Agni.” Gyatso bowed to them, while wondering what did they want from him.

“As you suspect, Firelord Sozin attacked the four Air Temples. No master survived.” Lord Agni was the first to speak, and there was pain in his voice for his children. Gyatso breathed in and out, not wanting to let the storm brewing inside him out, even without bending. He needed to let go, but to do that he needed to meditate. The spirit’s eyes were ablaze, but Gyatso didn’t flinch as he expected, but was taken aback at the pain in the spirit’s eyes but didn’t ask.

“Your soul, no matter the nation, has always been a protector.” Tselha sent a breeze to make the child relax and it worked. “Your soul is a gentle one, always linked with spirituality no matter what.”

“Souls can choose. They have two options, enter the Spirit World or get reincarnated in the next element of their cycle.” Tui told him. “In your case, Water.”

“Your fate has been tied with the Avatar, and still is. If you choose to reincarnate you will meet again, but you will not remember.” Rahin kept going. “You will feel the need to protect him like you always did, but it’s your choice.”

“The world has not advanced, but has entered an imbalance. Sozin has exterminated all the dragons and he started a war. The humans call it the Hundred Year War, and the Fire Nation is winning.” La kept talking. “I will tell you your options again, you can decide to help the Avatar or to stay in the Spirit World. If you choose the first option you will be raised without your memories, meaning that your lifestyle will change radically, for will be Water Tribe.”

“I will help Aang.” Gyatso didn’t have any doubts. “I have already killed protecting what was left of my people, and for Aang I would do it with my eyes closed.”

“Good.” Lady Tselha smiled at him and he bowed to her.

“May I know what happened with Avatar Aang?” Gyatso asked and saw the spirits looking at each other.

“Avatar Aang is frozen in an iceberg.” Lord Agni stated. “The storm caused him to go into the Avatar State and him, being an Air Nomad, will not die because of the ice. You will reincarnate at random, but you will be close to him, have no doubt for we will make it happen.”

“Thank you.” Gyatso felt relieved, he was going to see Aang again and help him in his destiny. “May I ask for something before reincarnating?”

“Ask, young one, and we will see.” Lord Rahin decided.

“May I meditate here till I have a calm soul? My new life will have hardships and I would like to leave this life’s ones resolved before anything.”

“It’s a wise request.” La approved. “Very well, young one, you will.”

The spirits suddenly disappeared and Gyatso found himself alone in the clearing, or so he thought.

“Hello Tenzin.” A voice startled the monk, but smiled at the origin.

“How many times do I have to tell you that its Gyatso, Roku?” Gyatso hugged his friend hard, consoling himself that if he was here that meant that Aang was relatively fine.

“One more than last time, my friend.” Roku’s eyes were sad, and Gyatso smiled.

“Looks like someone needs a Spiritual Master, don’t you?” Gyatso looked worriedly at his friend, knowing how he must have felt about the whole Sozin situation.

“I… might need one…” Roku smiled shyly and his old friend who just laughed and they both sat down to start.

After a while Fang and Bhuti started playing together, no signs of distress in the bison. Gyatso smiled at both while Roku meditated. Gyatso started meditating himself, after all he needed to be ready when the spirits called him.

He was interrupted once by Kuzon, asking about Aang, and Gyatso smiled, because at least Bumi was still alive and King of Omashu. He heard that some air nomad children had arrived to the Earth Kingdom without problems and they had been adopted quickly, and others had been adopted by Fire Nation nobles that didn’t respect Sozin’s actions.

In one of their meditation sessions with Roku, a certain Dragon of the West appeared, not knowing who he was after losing his son, so Monk Gyatso helped him too. After all he wasn’t going to turn his back in people who needed it, not even Sozin’s line. Besides, that way he saw it, he also won by learning what was happening in the world.

After helping the grandson of the killer of his whole kin, Gyatso felt he was ready and he broke all the mental barriers of _that_ day. Roku watched as his friend suffered but couldn’t do anything to help him. Finally, he did it. Roku noticed immediately, because spirits appeared and surrounded his friend, and he vowed that he would do whatever he needed to do for Gyatso to succeed.

Gyatso felt the freedom of his soul, not weighted down because of regrets. Then he felt the Spirits smiling at him, and he bowed while white light encompassed him. There was a tunnel that seemed to never end, and his life was passing in front of his eyes. He focused on Aang and Roku’s memories and cherished them till they were no more.

A shrill cry broke the silence, wanting to be heard, and the air moved with it. Everyone in the Water Tribes knew that when a baby was born something in the air would shift, it had always been that way, but with that particular baby, the firstborn of the couple, something unheard happened. The air called someone who wasn’t there. Or so they thought.

In a frozen sea, inside of an iceberg, a young boy’s arrows suddenly turned blue, telling the young air nomad that someone was looking for him. The glow dimmed, and the boy kept waiting for someone to free him but with hope in his heart that someone loved him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I chose the names for the Air and Earth spirits [Lady Tselha (Air) and Lord Rahin (Earth)] by putting Air Nomad name generator and Earth Kingdom name generator.
> 
> I'm always happy for every kudo and comment.


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